Our roles reversed! The queen and her protege!
by Ember A. Keelty
Summary: May runs into Lisia out in the wild on a rainy day. Contestqueenshipping.


"Aieeeeee!"

May heard the scream as she left the Weather Institute, and reflexively summoned her mach bike from its item ball and jumped on. The falling rain stung her face as she zoomed down Route 119, and the bike's whirring tires splashed muddy water on her legs.

It wasn't long before she spotted the probable source of the commotion: a bedraggled-looking, teal-haired girl kneeling in a puddle. May braked in front of her, dismounted, and leaned down to her level. "Are you all right?" she asked.

"I fell in a mud puddle and now I'm _filthy_!" the girl moaned. She looked up, and May let out a small gasp on seeing her face. "Oh my gosh, May? Is that really you? Ugh, how embarrassing!"

"Lisia!" May hadn't seen her in so long — the last time was before becoming the Pokémon League champion, even! She had entered a few contests since then, but Lisia hadn't faced her in any of them. "You're not hurt, are you?" she reached down to take Lisia's hand and help her up.

"No, not hurt, just wet and gross." Lisia sighed, sounding utterly forlorn. "I'm surprised you were even able to recognize me like this." She was dressed in jeans and a quilted jacket, and wearing no makeup whatsoever. She _did _look different, obviously, but May couldn't imagine not being able to recognize her.

"That happens when you're travelling. I've slipped in the mud plenty of times. What are you doing out here, though?"

"I told you I was going to take on the Pokémon League gym challenge, right? I've heard Winona in Fortree City is all about 'battling with elegance and grace,' and I decided I wanted to see what that means for myself! It sounds like exactly the sort of inspiration I've been looking for to help me take my contest coordinating to the next level."

"Isn't there an easier way you could get there, though?" May asked.

"Probably! But I wanted to get the full adventuring trainer experience. I can call this chapter of my story—" she struck a pose with one hand on her hip and the other raised in a fist-pump "—'Dampened spirits! Persevering through adversity!'" She slumped a little. "At least, I hope I'm going to persevere."

"Very nice. I like the pun," May told her.

Lisia giggled and stood a bit straighter. "I do too!"

"There's actually a place around here where you can dry off and wait out the rain." May got back on her bike, perching on the very front of the seat. "If you want me to take you there, just hop on behind me and hold tight."

"Nooo, I couldn't! I'd get you all muddy too!" Lisia protested.

"I'm already all muddy!" Besides which, having Lisia wrap her arms around her was more than worth getting a little dirty, in May's estimation. "Come on, Lisia, please? I really wanna take this chance to show off my cool secret base."

"Oh, well! You didn't say it was a secret base! I thought you were just talking about the Weather Institute!" Lisia hopped up on the bike behind May, wrapped her arms around the other girl, and rested her chin on her shoulder. "All right, Miss Champion, take me back to your place," she sing-songed into May's ear.

A pleasant little shiver ran down May's spine — maybe too pleasant, she thought. She'd realized long ago that Lisia's flirtiness was just part of her idol persona. If she let herself get her hopes up, she'd be in danger of becoming as deluded as Chaz.

May took off pedaling. Her bike was slower and clumsier than she was used to with the extra weight, but that was probably just as well. It was exhilarating enough having Hoenn's top idol wrapped around her and breathing softly on her neck. The adrenaline rush of the mach bike's usual death-defying speed on top of that might just make her heart explode.

"So have you got a strategy in mind for challenging Winona?" she asked.

"Yep! Uncle Wall got me an electrike, and I raised her into a powerful manectric. Her name's Electra, and she's a real cutie! Electric moves are so sparkly and cool!"

"And good against birds, yeah. But what if Winona uses a tropius or an altaria? Oh — unless you're planning to use Ali too? A flying type'll do well against a tropius, and if he mega evolves he can beat other altaria easily."

"Nope! Ali isn't a fighter. He likes performing in contests, and that's all. But not to worry, Electra is a special manectric! Her father was a glaceon, so she knows ice fang."

"Oh, neat! Then as long as you've raised her well enough, she should be able to take out any flying type pokémon in Hoenn."

"Oh, I've definitely raised her well enough. I've been working with her every spare moment I have to make you— Oh my gosh, May, look at that waterfall! It's _huge_!"

_To make _me_ something? _May thought. Was that a slip of the tongue? It had to be, right?

"Yeah, it's amazing," she said, deciding not to press the issue and end up embarrassing herself. "I love it so much that I made my base in a cave on the other side of it." She braked and dismounted, then got an item ball out and digitalized the bike. "All we have to do is cross the river here."

"_Here_? But isn't the current super fast?"

"It is. But I've got a pokémon who can handle it." She unclipped the master ball from her belt. "You're up, Kyogre!" Kyogre materialized in the water, and May climbed aboard their back. She petted the white spots above their eyes, just where they liked it most, and was rewarded with a big toothy smile when she peered down at their face. "Yes, you're good!" she told them. "You were very well-behaved today!" She took a poképuff out of her bag and tossed it up in the air. Kyogre tilted their head back, opened their mouth, and devoured it in one bite.

When May turned back to Lisia, she was gaping. "Oh, oops. I guess I should have warned you, huh? To me they're just another pokémon now, so I tend to forget..."

"That's _Kyogre!_" Lisia shrieked. "Like, _the_ Kyogre! You seriously just... carry it around in a pokéball? And _ride on its back_?!" 

"Well, yeah! I mean, not all the time. I had them with me today because the Weather Institute wanted to run some experiments with them. So they're actually the whole reason I ran into you." She absentmindedly gave them another eyebrow rub. "Anyway, climb on!"

"No! I mean, can I? Is it really okay?"

"Of course! Any friend of mine is a friend of Kyogre's, right Kyogre?"

"Kyoooo!" Kyogre affirmed.

"Well, if you say so..." Lisia clambered onto Kyogre on her hands and knees. "Oh my gosh, they feel so rubbery!"

"Yep, just like a wailmer!" May patted their head. "All right, Kyogre, take us to the hideout!"

"Kyoooo!" Kyogre said, and took off swimming.

Lisia shrieked as the water sprayed up around them and clung to May. _We aren't even going that fast_, May thought. Kyogre swam more swiftly than most pokémon, but it wasn't like they were a sharpedo or anything. Then again, this was probably Lisia's first time surfing on any pokémon at all...

Suddenly, May realized that Lisia was laughing. "This is amazing!" she called out above the roar of the waterfall. "Absolutely glorious!" Her smile shone like the lightning that sporadically lit up the sky.

Before long, they reached a small outcropping of land beneath the cliff on the far side of the waterfall, and disembarked. May tossed Kyogre one more poképuff before recalling them and leading Lisia into the nearby cave.

"Oh, wow! It's like you've got a little apartment in here!" Lisia said, twirling around to take it all in.

"Yeah! There's even a bed in the back room! Though, uh, there's kind of a hole in the floor and you have to cross a board I placed over it to get there. Oh! Do you have a change of clothes? If not, I've got some you can borrow."

"I do, but they're my nice clothes for when I get to Fortree," Lisia said. "It's probably a bad idea to change into them and then go back out there where they could get ruined."

"Okay, then! Take these!" May dug her own spare outfit out of her pack and handed it over. "You can go into the back room to—"

Before May could finish her sentence, Lisia had tossed off her jacket and started wiggling out of her jeans. "Thank you _so _much! My shirt's clean and dry, so I'll just take the pants."

"Um. You're welcome." May forced her eyes up to Lisia's face.

So she now knew the other girl wore blue-and-white polka dot bikini-style underwear. So what? She'd seen more of complete strangers just hanging out at the beach.

"You can have a seat anywhere while we wait out the rain," she said once Lisia had finished changing.

Lisia proceeded to ignore all the chairs and instead plop down on the back of May's life-sized lapras doll. "What's this cutie's name?" she asked.

"What, you mean the doll?" May blinked. "Uh... Lapras?"

Lisia shook her head. "That's no good! She needs a real name! Like... Lala! Or Latoya! Or... wait! I've got it! _Lazuli!_" She hugged its plush neck. "Pleased to meet you, Lazuli! ...Hey! Just what do you think you're doing, May?"

May blinked again. "Sitting down on a chair?"

Lisia clicked her tongue. "Unacceptable! Come sit next to me on Lazuli!"

May did, and Lisia immediately leaned in and rested her head on her shoulder. This, May thought, was _probably_ going beyond what could be explained by a naturally flirtatious personality.

"I'm going to get you all wet again," May warned.

"But you're so _warm_," Lisia said, and grabbed May's hands. "Even your hands are warm! Mine are freezing!"

"I have good circulation," May said, wondering what in the world was coming out of her mouth even as she spoke. "All that hiking."

She _did_ feel very, very warm.

"And biking," said Lisia. "And gallantly rushing to the rescue of travelers in distress."

"It wasn't that gallant."

"Oh yes it was! You know, I started this journey to get to see a different side of pokémon, but I'm really glad I got to see a different side of you too, May. I never knew my cute junior coordinator could be so cool and tough!"

"Well, I _am _kind of the Pokémon League champion," May pointed out.

"Yeah, I know! Silly me, right?" She lifted her head so that she could look May in the eyes. "Hey, um, May? Could you do me a favor? I mean, you've already done a lot of favors for me today, so you don't have to, but..."

"Of course I will," May said without hesitation. "What is it?"

"Geeze, don't agree until you've heard what it is!" Lisia laughed. "I was just wondering... Well, I mean, I watched your first contest... and your second one... and most of the ones after that... So, um, anyway, I was wondering if you would come with me the rest of the way to Fortree and watch my first gym battle."

"I would love to," May said honestly.

Lisia let out a deep sigh, like she'd been holding her breath. "Awesome! May, you're the reason I decided to take the gym challenge, so I'll do my best to make you proud! I want you to get to feel how I felt when I watched you sweep the master contests."

"I'm sure you'll do great," May told her.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, holding hands and listening to the sound of falling water. Then, Lisia cleared her throat.

"Actually, there was one more favor I wanted to ask."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Um. I was wondering if... maybe... you could give me a good luck kiss?"

May did.


End file.
